“The Batu Caves are situated thirteen kilometers (seven miles) north of the capital city Kuala Lumpur. They are the sacred place for the Hindus in Malaysia. They consist of three main caves and a number of
smaller ones. The caves are made of limestone and 400 meters (1300 feet) long and 100 meters (330 feet) high.”

“Standing at 42.7 m (140 ft) high, the world’s tallest statue of Murugan, a Hindu deity, is located outside Batu Caves, near the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.”

“You have to climb 272 steps, which will lead you to the religious and magnificent Batu Caves.”

My goodness 272 steps is a lot and did I work up a sweat! I was afraid to stop though because I didn’t want a monkey to steal my camera or jump on my head.

“At your arrival you will be greeted by lots of monkeys. They are going for your peanuts and bananas, which you can buy in several shops before you climb up to the caves. If you climb up the stairs, you can meet a lot of long tailed-macaque monkeys and if you have peanuts with you, they’ll climb to you.”

These guys are fearless and pretty damn rude. I saw one monkey sneak up behind a guy and steal the map out of his back pocket and another monkey run up and rip a bag open that a lady was carrying. It looked like the ashes of a dead relative fell out but the lady didn’t freak out and the monkey started eating it so I think (and hope) it may have been some sort of food product.

This douche was teasing the monkey and I was half hoping he would catch monkey pox. I was tempted to tell the guy he probably shouldn’t wave the bottle at the monkey and then pull it away, but I don’t speak stoopid. Monkeys attack the balls and eyes first, so I backed away because I would like to keep all four of mine.

If you want people to obey the sign then you probably shouldn’t sell monkey food to them before they walk up the stairs!!!!

“Temple Cave or Cathedral Cave is the best known and biggest of the caves. The ceiling is 100 m above the ground and this huge
chamber is lighted by daylight from several holes in the ceiling.”

There are about a dozen different shrines in this cave, and at least that many chickens.

“At the base of the hill are two more cave temples, Art Gallery Cave and Museum Cave, both of which are full of Hindu statues and paintings. This complex was renovated and opened as the Cave Villa in 2008. Many of the shrines relate the story of Lord Murugan’s victory over the demon Soorapadam.”

“The Ramayana Cave is situated to the extreme left as one faces the sheer wall of the hill. On the way to the Ramayana Cave, there is a 15 meter (50 feet) tall statue of Hanuman and a temple dedicated to Hanuman, the noble monkey devotee and aide of Lord Rama.”

“The limestone forming Batu Caves is said to be around 400 million years old. Some of the cave entrances were used as shelters by the indigenous Temuan people, a tribe of Orang Asli.”

Go into a pitch dark cave filled with giant spiders that live underneath trap doors? I’d rather fight three of those monkeys for a can of Fanta (which I actually saw, minus my involvement).

Batu Caves is a gorgeous and spiritual place, and I very much enjoyed my few hours here. Unfortunately, there is garbage everywhere inside and outside the caves and it smells like an old hobo’s infected toe.

At first I couldn’t understand why people would treat this shrine like a garbage dump, but then I saw a bunch of monkeys tearing open garbage bags and throwing the contents all over. I guess they run the place.

I lived like a local and took the city bus out here. It cost $1 and took about an hour. I lived like a tourist for the ride back though and took a cab. That cost $12 and took 15 minutes.

And that was Day 2 in Kuala Lumpur.

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About joel47

I am taking a sabbatical from teaching in CT, where I have taught high school English for 14 years and part-time college for 5 years. Over the past few summers I have done nerdy teacher things like take classes at the Folger Shakespeare Institute and Cambridge University. I have travelled to 30+ countries, been to 38 Springsteen concerts, and own 25 acres of land in Texas. I believe that social media and cell phones are destroying our ability to effectively communicate, and that reality TV quickly turns minds into useless blobs of goo. I am also well prepared for the coming Zombie Apocalypse.

Hi Joel, Checking in… Looks like everything going well… great job with the pictures!!! enjoy reading your adventures so far… if you miss the snow, i would be glad to send you some, as we got more than we need..Haha!! Take care and stay Safe !!!

This wonderful Hindu shrine is honored in an Islamic country. There seems to be a lot of tolerance for Chinese and Indian culture here. Can you tell the difference between Chinese and Malay people easily?

Great commentary on the ridiculous. Slap kids around after giving them Pepsi.

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I am taking a sabbatical from teaching in CT, where I have taught high school English for 14 years and part-time college for 5 years. Over the past few summers I have done nerdy teacher things like take classes at the Folger Shakespeare Institute and Cambridge University. I have travelled to 30+ countries, been to 38 Springsteen concerts, and own 25 acres of land in Texas. I believe that social media and cell phones are destroying our ability to effectively communicate, and that reality TV quickly turns minds into useless blobs of goo. I am also well prepared for the coming Zombie Apocalypse.